Saint-Martin Chapel

Between Saint-Vallier and Escragnolles, the troops discovered a chapel in the stony desert and took advantage of the opportunity to stop off. Chapelle Saint- Martin still exists. It no longer has a roof, but it's still a magnificent place.
Although isolated from the settlement and the heart of the parish—which have shifted over the centuries—this small Church of Saint-Martin, which has never been abandoned, stands alone as a testament to the Escragnolles of the Middle Ages.

Consisting of a single nave and a semicircular apse with a barrel vault, this building is the result of successive reconstruction and restoration efforts. Its architecture, therefore, bears no resemblance to that of the Middle Ages. Yet it was indeed during this period that it first appeared, on the site of the fortified village—the Castrum of Esclangolo or Escajola—which was abandoned at the end of the Middle Ages. When the area was repopulated in the sixteenth century, the church remained a parish church, even though the authorities deemed it “old and antiquated” and ordered the construction of a new church in the center of the territory. It was not until 1612, when it lay in ruins, that it definitively lost its status as a parish church. Nevertheless, it was never abandoned. Lord Robert, in fact, authorized its reconstruction in the 17th century. As for its most recent restoration, it dates back to the early 21st century.